The Purdue Boilermakers are the No. 1 team in the country and steamrolling the opposition, with Rutgers being their latest victim on Tuesday night. And that matchup was also one of two differing roster makeups, as Purdue relies on several upperclassmen, while Rutgers has a neophyte roster.
Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter provided his perspective on why the Scarlet Knights’ roster construction is poised to backfire.
“It works if you can keep them. If you can’t keep them, who cares?” Painter said after Purdue’s 81-65 win on the road when asked for his thoughts on Rutgers entrusting several freshmen. “If you’re like, ‘Hey, he’s going to be pretty good.’ Well, he’s going to be pretty good for Rutgers then, right? Now, he becomes a sophomore, but if he leaves, that’s the dilemma of why the rule stinks.
“You can’t grow them if you can’t keep them. That’s just the nature of development.”
Painter elaborated on how Purdue’s core of senior stars such as Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer puts the Boilermakers “at an advantage” and gives them “corporate DNA” given their continuity playing together for multiple years. The aforementioned trio makes up three of Purdue’s six seniors this season.
“It’s not just a Rutgers issue. It’s a college basketball issue because now if you play young guys, and you live with them, and now they go into their sophomore years, then they’re going to be better. But if you can’t keep your core group together, that’s what makes it hard, and that’s why you see a lot of coaches like, ‘Hey, I’m going to stick with this and play some young guys,’ and then they leave on them,” Painter said.
“Now, that’s why you see people just play older guys and go in the [transfer] portal. Like, why not? You’re trying to win; you’re trying to get to the NCAA Tournament; you’re trying to win the Big Ten; you’re trying to keep your job. It’s a tough racket to put your thumb on, at times.”
Rutgers – which has lost four of its last five games – has seven freshmen on its roster this season, with four of them playing double-digit minutes on Tuesday night: Chris Nwuli, Harun Zrno, Lino Mark and Kaden Powers.
Last season, freshmen Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, who were each five-star recruits, were No. 1 and 2 in scoring for the Scarlet Knights but were then selected in the top-five picks of the 2025 NBA Draft.
As for Purdue, the Boilermakers are 8-0 with ranked wins over Alabama and Texas Tech. Kaufman-Renn is averaging 15.5 points and a Big Ten-high 11 rebounds per game; Loyer is averaging 15.6 points per game, while shooting 49.1% from behind the arc; Smith is averaging 13.4 points and 8.9 assists per game, while shooting 41% from behind the arc; fellow senior center Oscar Cluff, who transferred to Purdue from South Dakota State, is averaging 11.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and one block per game.
Purdue hosts No. 10 Iowa State on Saturday, while 5-4 Rutgers has a road matchup against No. 3 Michigan on Saturday.
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